to wonder why people still holiday in volatile countries?

[Acorn20]

I am talking specifically about Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey etc. And no, I'm not just talking about terrorism, as that can happen anywhere nowadays.

I'm talking about the stories of people getting arrested and thrown in jail for trivial things. The fact if you walk down the street you will be hassled, whether it's sexual harrasment or for money.

I'm not denying these places have nice things to see, but it's just not worth it. Yet thousands of people go every year for some cheap sun.

Because they're cheap

But if anyone has the right to judge anyone else she also has the right to judge craft, doesn’t she?

Absolutely right. That's the way it should be.

When people say "what gives you the right to judge?", the reply should be "errrr...Magna Carta."

In the last 10 years we have been to:
Tunisia x 1
Morocco x 1
Kos x 1
Turkey x 1
Spain x 2
Egypt x 6

The most 'unsafe' I felt was in Kos when we were followed through the town by a small gang of beggars.

The worst holiday was a toss up between Spain and Morocco - Spain because the weather was shite and Morocco because the food was shite in the hotel and the weather was terrible (Don't go to Agadir in Aug - it's pure cloud cover).

The Euro holidays were OK, but nothing special. Rooms were smaller and in towers, AI more basic, not as much reason to go out and about. Pools are more likely to be chlorinated and are more crowded.

In Egypt the hotels are more luxurious, 3 floors max, or bungalows. DD always has her own space. The complexes have lots of fresh water pools and water parks and the snorkelling and diving are outstanding. We've always had good quality and a more extensive choice of food. Our favourite hotel has 7 a la carte restaurants, a snack bar and 2 buffet restaurants.

The security in the new Hurghada airport is outstanding - far better than in the UK. Alanya (Turkey) airport is on a par to the UK but much better organised (less queuing!). Kos airport is the worst I have ever been in.

We always go out and about in the day and the evening and have never had any hassle (less Kos). Yes people try to sell you stuff, trip and soveniers etc, but I've never had grief for simply saying no (actually now I think about it, I have. A pair of fake Adidas in Turkey made a guy shout at me, but he wasn't actually Turkish, so I'm not sure it counts!)

You get more for your money in Egypt (and Turkey). I might even go back to Tunisia in the coming years, but for now Egypt is my favourite place to Holiday.

Friends travel through Morocco for a few months every year and have no problems but they're off the tourist routes. We've been to Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt on organised holidays and experienced no problems, we used to go to the Middle East regularly but might be a bit wary of Jordan now. One of my targets to visit is Libya, hopefully soon.

@tillytrotter1 I went to Libya a couple of years before the fall of Gaddaff. It was an amazing place to visit, Leptis Magna was incredible. We spent most of the time in the southern deserts to see the ancient rock paintings. Travel even then was very tightly controlled, you could move around Triploi quite freely, although of course everyone was watching everyone else. To travel outside Tripoli you needed permissions and you had to have official guides and tourist police. You weren't allowed anywhere not on the itinerary. Our guide had a fit when one of the group went off for a walk in a small town we stopped at for coffee.

Its still way too unstable though, I can't imagine it would be a tourist destination for a long time yet. I'm glad I went when I did.